Ballots must be postmarked or placed in official ballot drop boxes by 8 p.m. Tuesday

Barely 20% of Whatcom County voters have returned their primary election ballots, despite several legislative and judicial races that feature multiple candidates.

Some 155,144 voters were registered in Whatcom County, but only 32,000 ballots had been returned on Monday, Aug. 1, according to the Auditor’s Office, which conducts elections.

Ballots must be postmarked — not simply mailed — or placed in official ballot drop boxes by 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2.

Election results are expected about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Voting is conducted by mail, although voters who would like the experience of casting a ballot in person can do so until 8 pm. Tuesday at the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office, 311 Grand St., in Bellingham.

Residents can register and vote until the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day, but they must do so in person at the Auditor’s Office.

Offices on the ballot this year in Whatcom County include the 2nd Congressional District, which is the county’s only U.S. House seat after recent redistricting eliminated the Whatcom County portion of the 1st Congressional District; state House and Senate races in the 40th and 42nd districts; county prosecutor; and District Court judge.

In the 2nd District, incumbent U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, has nine challengers, including six Republicans, one conservative, one Democrat and one candidate who listed no party preference.

In the 40th Legislative District, which includes parts of Whatcom and Skagit counties and all of San Juan County, voters will have only one party to choose from, because a Democratic incumbent is unopposed for one state House seat and a Democrat is challenging an incumbent Democrat for the other.

Every state legislative district has two House representatives who serve two-year terms and one member of the Senate who serves a four-year term. Only the 40th District’s two House seats are up for election this year.

Voters in the 42nd Legislative District have choices to make this year in the Aug. 2 primary, where all three legislative seats are in play, and all have multiple candidates.

Washington’s 42nd District includes northern Bellingham neighborhoods and the rest of northern and eastern Whatcom County.

Each of the three races in the 42nd District features more than two candidates, but only the two who get the most votes will advance to the Nov. 8 general election, no matter their party affiliation.

Also on the ballot are Whatcom County Prosecutor Eric Richey, who is running unopposed for re-election, and three candidates for District Court judge.